Oklahoma man accused of stealing police car after posting video of joyride

By Jon Herskovitz

(Reuters) - An Oklahoma man faces charges of stealing a police vehicle after he posted videos during a high-speed ride in a patrol car where he says: "I can't believe I'm doing this."

John Pinney, 25, was in the Tulsa County jail on Tuesday on charges including impersonating a police officer, auto theft and failing to wear a seatbelt in the incident that started on Monday night, online jail records showed. No lawyer was listed for him.

In one of the videos posted on Facebook Live and viewed over 60,000 times, Pinney searches for the switch for the cruiser's flashing lights and says: "It is what it is. I just can't help it."

He stops to show off the car during the video and giggles as he poses in front of the cruiser. Police said he reached speeds of about 100 mph (160 kph) as he drove through neighborhoods in and around Tulsa where children were trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

Pinney was eventually arrested at his house.

"Great entertainment. See you in 5 to 10 years," one viewer wrote on a John Pinney Facebook page where the videos were posted.

Pinney, on probation after being convicted of auto theft and other crimes, stole the car from an officer who went on a coffee break and left the keys in the ignition, police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie told the Tulsa World. She did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

"When you're on video in a stolen police car, you really can't deny that you did that," she told the newspaper. They're using it, I think, for attention or to try to get notoriety. We use it as an evidence tool."

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Peter Cooney)